Cpu fan making grinding noise

[ryanchristianguevarra]

I just got a new psu because the other one got blown out and now my cpu fan makes this grinding noise intermittently. I thought the fan was spinning too fast at first but it makes the same noise at 1000 rpm vs 1600 rpm. I probably damaged my fan in the process of trying to troubleshoot my hardware problems but I’d like some other opinions.

I stopped my cpu fan while it was running for around a second and it still made the same noise. I just recently cleaned the heatsink and fan and applied new thermal paste.
Nothing is caught in the blades. Pc is working but I’m only turning it on to troubleshoot right now.

 

[tennis2]

I can't picture how a Fan can make a grinding noise while it's stopped (brushless motor). Are you certain it's the fan?

Fans are generally standard (and cheap). is yours square? If so, what's the distance across the flats?